Queer theory is a historically situated, highly contentious and continually shifting field of inquiry. It exists in relation to politically engaged movements outside the academy, strands of feminist and lesbian/gay intellectual work, as well as continental philosophy and literary theory. It is an interdisciplinary mode of inquiry that examines any sexual activities and identities that fall into both “normative” and “deviant” categories. The Queer Theory Group thus attempts to generate new ways of thinking about and working with existing categories and concepts situated within hegemonic social and cultural formations.

The field of Queer Theory is a cross-disciplinary construction that has no singular disciplinary origin. Further, Queer Theory is an interdisciplinary mode of inquiry and as such the readings for our group will repeatedly engage topics across various disciplines. Importantly, the group fills an existing institutional gap for graduate students studying queer theory across disciplines at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

We plan to meet once a month to discuss readings we select jointly. Group meetings may also be devoted to professional development activities (e.g. helping members prepare papers for the Midwest Interdisciplinary graduate Conference or other conferences, interviews, etc). Some presentations of graduate student research will be organized in conjunction with the Modern Studies graduate student colloquium in 2007-08.